Loop the hoop

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Age
3-5 years
Child Development
Pretend play; speculative and descriptive talk; vocabulary (through, in, out, beside, etc.)
Equipment
Hoops
Physical Activity

Vigorous play (building strong bones and muscles); developing movement skills (e.g. jump, crab walk); body and spatial awareness; cooperation

How to Play
  1. Provide each child with a hoop in their own space.
  2. Have children explore ways to move in and out of the hoops, e.g. “Show me how you can jump in and out of the hoops”; “What other ways can you get in and out of the hoops?” (e.g. hop, step, frog jump, crawl).
  3. Ask the children to respond to instructions in relation to their hoop: e.g. “Stand beside your hoop”; “Jump over your hoop”; “Crawl through your hoop”; “Stand inside your hoop and raise it over your head”; “Run around your hoop,” etc.
  4. Add pretend play by inviting the children to imagine the hoop is a washing machine. Invite them to tell a partner how they got dirty.
Change it up / Alternatives / Additional Options
  • Read the poem “Places” and talk about all the different places they can think of that are “go through places”; “crawl-under places”; and “climb-up places.” Talk about favourite places…which ones do they think are the “very best places of all?”
    • PLACES by Jon Travers Moore

      There are Go-through places
      (Arches and doorways).
      There are Crawl-under places
      (Fences or wall).
      But the Climb-up places
      (Clear to the tiptops)
      Are the very best places of all.
       
  • In groups of three. Two children hold their hoop perpendicular to the ground to make a “go-through” tunnel. The third child crawls through the hoops and runs back to the beginning. Change roles until everyone’s had a turn. Children can crawl backwards, crawl like a crab, or bear walk, etc.

Excerpt from the HOP Early Learning Practitioners Resource (Decoda Literacy Solutions)